Once again enrollment has risen at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. Overall enrollment at the college has increased 5.3 percent this spring as compared to spring term 2008 at the 30-day mark. The bulk of the increase, 8 percent, is found in new students, while returning students increased 4.7 percent.

Part of the 8 percent in new students has been accredited to the college’s Workforce Re-Training Initiative, which gave a 50 percent tuition discount to people throughout the state currently on unemployment. The program drew more than 240 students to the Cambridge Campus and Coon Rapids Campus.

“Anoka-Ramsey has been providing quality, cost-effective higher education for more than four decades,” says Dr. Patrick Johns, President of Anoka-Ramsey Community College. “The college felt compelled to help Minnesotans meet the challenges of the current economic situation with the Workforce Retraining Re-Initiative. The increase in enrollment, particularly in new students, exemplifies the college’s continual ability to offer programs and partnerships to meet the ever-increasing need for education, training and re-training that our economy requires.”

Anoka-Ramsey offers programs for all stages in a person’s life from KidU summer courses for children and teens, to complete certificate programs, associate and transfer degrees, and advanced degrees as well as continuing education programs and customized training for businesses and organizations.

For more information about all of the programs Anoka-Ramsey Community College offers, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu or call 763-433-1100.

Anoka-Ramsey Community College students (shown at the annual fall picnic at the Coon Rapids Campus) have increased by 5.3 percent comparing total headcount of spring 2008 with that of spring 2009.